Intellectual Yet Idiot
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few weeks, I’m sure you’ve heard of the song “Rich Men North of Richmond” (click the link to hear) written and performed by Oliver Anthony. This song climbed to the top of the iTunes store and then topped the Billboard top 100 songs. It’s a huge hit. And no mean feat.
Why? Anthony is singing the song of millions of Americans who feel like our country is leaving them behind. It’s not necessarily an income thing. Many folks feel that they’ve lost control; that they can’t control their own destiny; that the country and our way of life have changed radically. That’s not always related to income or one’s station in society.
You yourself may not feel that way, but I assure you there are many who do.
Implicit in what Anthony is singing about are the “pointy-headed intellectuals” who make policy about things of which they know little. Several years ago there was a term coined “Intellectual Yet Idiot” by author Nassim Taleb describing Ivy League-educated elites who tell the rest of us 1) what to do, 2) what to eat, 3) how to speak, 4) how to think and 5) who to vote for. Except that these elites have no real-world experience. Just education.
If you haven’t heard the song, you may click the link above for the YouTube original. The full lyrics are at the end of this article1. But here’s a snippet which I think is important:
I've been selling my soul, working all day, overtime hours for bullshit pay,
So, I can sit out here and waste my life away, drag back home, and drown my troubles away.
It's a damn shame what the world's gotten to for people like me — for people like you.
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true. But it is. Oh, it is.
Living in the New World – with an old soul.
These rich men north of Richmond. Lord knows it all. Just want to have total control.
Want to know what you think, want to know what you do.
And they don't think you know. But I know that you do.
Because your dollar ain't shit, and it's taxed to no end because the rich men north of Richmond.
You think this is overblown? Well, here’s a story published several days ago that perfectly illustrates the vapidness of a “pointy-headed” bureaucrat.
Headline: Biden's 'Booze Czar' Floats New Possible Guidance of Only Two Beers A Week
As reported by the Daily Mail, “George Koob, director of the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said the current alcohol intake guidelines are up for review in 2025, which recommend women can have up to one bottle of beer, a small glass of wine, or a shot of liquor per day while men can have two.” But the ultimate goal is that the USDA could revise its alcohol recommendations to match Canada's guidelines, where people are advised to two drinks per week.
Now let me ask you, is this realistic? Does this “pointy-headed” bureaucrat really believe that anyone who doesn’t abstain from alcohol will pay any attention to this? As one who likes his beer and wine, Dr. Koob might as well have told me to give up eating for a healthier diet. But how long will it be before you start hearing about the ill effects of alcohol in the corporate media? How long until you start to see stories on TV? How long until they regulate alcohol more than they do today?
From “low flow” toilets that don’t flush to newfangled light bulbs that cost 10 times more than incandescent bulbs, to what our kids are learning in school, to wind power that kills whales and dolphins, to giving rich people $7,500 to buy a $75,000 electric car, our “betters” claim to be making the right decisions for us, the unwashed “little people,” but in fact they are making our lives worse.
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“We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.”
- Ayn Rand
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Bear vs. Mountain Goats
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The lyrics for “Rich Men North of Richmond”:
I've been selling my soul, working all day, overtime hours for bullshit pay,
So, I can sit out here and waste my life away, drag back home, and drown my troubles away.
It's a damn shame what the world's gotten to for people like me — for people like you.
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true. But it is. Oh, it is.
Living in the New World – with an old soul.
These rich men north of Richmond. Lord knows it all. Just want to have total control.
Want to know what you think, want to know what you do.
And they don't think you know. But I know that you do.
Because your dollar ain't shit, and it's taxed to no end because the rich men north of Richmond.
I wish politicians would look out for miners and not just minors on an island somewhere.
Lord, we got folks in the street, ain't got nothing to eat, and the obese milking welfare.
God, if you're five foot three, and you're 300 pounds, taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds.
Young men are putting themselves 6 feet in the ground because all this damn country does is keep on kicking them down.
Lord, it's a damn shame – what the world's gotten to for people like me, people like you.
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true. But it is. Oh, it is.
Living in the New World – with an old soul.
These rich men north of Richmond. Lord knows they all. Just want to have total control.
Want to know what you think, want to know what you do. And they don't think you know. But I know that you do.
Because your dollar ain't shit, and it's taxed to no end because the rich men north of Richmond.
I've been selling my soul, working all day, overtime hours for bullshit pay…